1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a partial connection preventing function.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,400 and FIGS. 19(A) and 19(B) herein disclose a connector with a partial connection preventing function. Similar connectors are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,786, U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,797 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,720. With reference to FIGS. 19(A) and (B), the connector has a male housing 1 with a receptacle 1a and a female housing 2 that can fit in the receptacle 1a. A slider 3 is assembled in sliding contact with the upper surface of the female housing 2 and is slidable forward and back along the connecting direction. A compression coil spring 4 is squeezed between the slider 3 and the female housing 2. The male housing 1 pushes the slider 3 back as the housings 1, 2 are being connected. Thus, the spring 4 is compressed resiliently and accumulates a biasing force to separate the two housings 1, 2. The biasing force accumulated in the spring 4 is released to separate the housings 1, 2 if a connecting operation is interrupted prematurely. Thus, the housings 1, 2 will not be left partly connected. The female housing 2 has a restriction 5 that slides in contact with the upper surface of the slider 3 to guide sliding movements of the slider 3 and to prevent the slider 3 from being displaced upward.
The slider 3 has locking projections 6 that engage receiving portions 7 on the female housing 2, as shown in FIG. 20, to prevent the slider 3 from coming out forward from an assembled position. Slanted guiding surfaces (not shown) are formed on the rear surfaces of the locking projections 6. Thus, the locking projections 6 can easily move over the receiving portions 7 when the slider 3 is mounted into the female housing 2 from the front to provide efficient assembly. In the assembled state, the locking projections 6 escape into escaping grooves 8 formed behind the receiving portions 7.
A demand exists for reducing the height of connectors. This demand could be met by omitting the restrictions 5. In such a case, the locking projections 6 will engage the upper edges of the escaping grooves 8 to prevent the displacement of the slider 3. However, the locking projections 6 have the above-described guiding surfaces, and areas of engagement of the locking projections with the escaping grooves 8 are accordingly smaller. Thus, the displacement of the slider 3 may not be restricted sufficiently. The locking projections 6 could be enlarged to avoid this a problem. However, such an enlargement would deteriorate the assembly efficiencies.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to improving an assembling operation.